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Sheriff Seizes Guns From Owners With Revoked FOID Cards

A total of 20 guns were taken from a person who had a revoked FOID card. (Credit: Cook County Sheriff)

CHICAGO (CBS) — As part of an overall crackdown on illegal gun ownership, Cook County sheriff’s deputies found one person was still in possession of 20 weapons despite having his firearms ID revoked, officials said Tuesday.

In the past seven weeks, deputies have seized 83 guns and 106 revoked Firearm Owners Identification Card (FOID) from individuals prohibited from possessing the card under state and federal law, according to a new release from the sheriff’s department.

Deputies also recovered thousands of rounds of ammunition.

While a person can be prohibited from purchasing or possessing a firearm under federal and state law for a variety of reasons, the most common reasons occur when a person is convicted of a felony, determined by a mental health professional to be a risk to themselves or others or who have an order or protection issued against them.

In Cook County alone, nearly 4,000 revoked FOID card holders have not returned their FOID cards to the Illinois State Police, Sheriff Tom Dart said.

While a revoked person will be prevented from purchasing a firearm at a federally licensed firearm dealer, the person still could purchase ammunition since background checks are not conducted in connection with ammunition purchases.

“These statistics unquestionably evidence systemic failure in our current FOID process that puts the public at risk,” said Dart. “We have to get serious about enforcement – about recognizing that the center of the epidemic of gun violence is that weapons are in the wrong hands.”